Security terms, in plain language.
Every term we use in a quote or a proposal, explained the way we would explain it on site.
Since 2015
200+ guards deployed
Serving all of Ontario
24/7 live monitoring
A
- Access control
- Electronic control of who may open which door, when, with every entry recorded.
- Ajax
- A wireless alarm platform we install where alarm-first protection at a lower entry price makes more sense than a full camera system.
- Alarm verification
- Confirming an alarm is a real event, usually by video or audio, before police or a patrol is dispatched.
- Analytics
- Software that classifies what a camera sees, such as a person, a vehicle, or a line being crossed.
B
- Bandwidth
- The amount of network capacity a camera system uses to upload video and events.
C
- Cloud-managed
- A system administered from a browser instead of software installed on a machine at the site.
- Co-terming
- Aligning the end dates of several licences or contracts so they renew together on one date.
- Command
- Verkada's cloud platform, where cameras, doors, alarms, intercoms, and users are managed and footage is reviewed.
- Concierge
- A guard posted at a residential or commercial front desk handling access, packages, and visitors.
D
- Duress code
- An alternate code entered under threat that appears to disarm the system while silently alerting monitoring.
F
- False alarm
- An alarm with no real cause. Video verification exists largely to keep these from reaching police.
- Field of view
- How much of a scene a camera lens covers, measured in degrees.
- Frame rate
- Images recorded per second. Higher frame rates capture fast motion more clearly.
H
- Hard-wired
- Devices connected by cable rather than Wi-Fi. Every system we install is hard-wired.
I
- Intercom
- A door station with video and two-way audio so a visitor can be seen, spoken to, and let in remotely.
M
- Mobile patrol
- Marked vehicle patrols that check a site on a schedule or respond to a verified alarm.
P
- PoE
- Power over Ethernet. A single network cable delivers both power and data to a camera or door reader.
- PSISA
- Ontario's Private Security and Investigative Services Act, the law that licenses security guards and agencies in the province.
R
- Retention
- How long recorded video is kept before it is overwritten.
- RMA
- Return Merchandise Authorization. The manufacturer process for replacing a failed device under warranty.
S
- Security fog
- A dense, safe fog released into a protected space during a break-in so nothing can be seen, selected, or carried out.
- Site survey
- A walk-through of a property to document risks, coverage gaps, cable routes, and device placement before a quote.
T
- Talk-down
- A monitoring operator speaking through an on-site speaker to warn an intruder in real time.
V
- Verkada
- The enterprise cloud security platform we design, install, lease, rent, and maintain: cameras, access control, alarms, intercom, and sensors.
- Video verification
- Using live or recorded video to confirm what triggered an alarm before dispatching a response.
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